This special building's main feature is Production boost. However, unlike the Windmill it replaces, the Coffee House may be built in any city, even if it was built on the hills. The Additional bonus to Great People generation is also important, and again is applicable to all cities, which is not the case with the only other common building enhancing Great People generation, the Garden.

The famous coffeehouses of Austria, found predominantly in the cultural center of Vienna, have long been a sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. According to legend, the first coffee house in Vienna was opened by a Polish soldier named Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki, who discovered a cache of coffee beans left behind by the retreating Ottoman-Turks following the Battle of Vienna in 1683. Vienna's cafe culture blossomed in the 19th century, when writers and artists across the city took comfort in the laid-back atmosphere of the coffeehouse and often lingered throughout the day.